Tray



April 16, 1957 E. H. SIMONSEN TRAY Filed Bag. 8, 1954 u l ho UnitedStates TRAY Edward H. Simonsen, Elmwood Park, 111., assignor to SimonsenMetal Products Company, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of IllinoisApplication December 8, 1954, Serial No. 473,878

4 Claims. (Cl. 22022) This invention relates to sheet metal receptaclesand is more particularly concerned with trays suitable for use inutility, tool or tackle boxes of the general type wherein the main bodyof the box accommodates relatively large objects and one or more traysare provided to hold relatively smaller objects.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a traylike receptaclehaving upstanding side walls and a plurality of cross partitions ordividers which are adapted to extend between the side walls and whichare detachably connected at their ends with oppositely disposed portionsof the side walls.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a tray having crosspartitions or dividers which are readily movable from one place toanother for increasing or decreasing the size of the compartments intowhich the tray is divided and which interlock with portions of the sidesof the tray to tie the same together and prevent their bulging or beingforced inwardly toward each other.

It is another object of the invention to provide a partitioned tray-likereceptacle in which the partition members have their ends mounted inrecessed slots provided in the upstanding side walls of the receptaclewith the ends of the partition members adapted to interlock withportions of the tray side walls which adjoin the slots.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a receptacle havingside walls provided with inwardly opening slots which face in oppositedirections and cross partition members having oppositely directed endflange formations adapted to pivot in the slots and interlock with theside walls when in partition forming relation therein.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom a consideration of the tray structure which is shown by way ofillustration in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tray having a plurality of partitionmembers mounted therein with one of the partition members only partiallyswung toward interlocking position.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 to an enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the cross partition members to anenlarged scale; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, to an enlarged scale, showingone of the slot formations in the tray side wall.

Referring to the drawings there is illustrated an open top receptacle oftray-like form which is adapted for use in a tackle box and which hasincorporated therein the principal features of the invention. The tray10 is preferably formed of one piece of metal in a drawing operation andis provided with side walls 11 having oppositely disposed aligned pairsof slot formations 12 which are adapted to receive the ends of crosspartition or divider members 13.

The slot formations 12 are identical and only one will be described indetail. Each of the slot formations 12 is formed by pressing inwardly apredetermined area in 2,788,912 Patented Apr. 16, 1957 2 V the side wall11 to form therein an inwardly projecting recess 14 and providing avertically extending opemng 15 which faces inwardly in the direction ofone end of the tray. The vertically extending portions of the tray 4wall which are adjacent the opening 15 are pressed inwardly difierentdistances or amounts so that the wall portions 17 and 18 thus formed arein vertical planes which are in spaced or oifsetrelation and generallyparallel with the side wall '11, the wall portions 17 and 18 beingspaced inwardly a suflicient distance to provide the opening 15 which isof suflicient size to receive the end of a cross partition member 13.The slot formations 12 are aligned in opposite side walls 11 and eachaligned pair thereof provides a pair of openings 15 for receiving theends of a cross partition member 13 with the openings 15 in oppositewalls 11 facing towards opposite ends 16 of the tray 10.

The cross partition members 13 are generally rectangular and formed atopposite ends with bent over portions 19 and 20 forming relatively smallor narrow end flanges which extend in opposite directions generallynormal to the plane of the body of the partition. The partition has cutaway end or corner portions at 21 and 22 above and below both endflanges 19 and 20. The top edge of each partition 13 is preferablybeaded at 23 and a series of inwardly spaced holes 24 is providedadjacent the head 23 for receiving the leaders of fishing hooks or thelike to hold the same in stretched out relation in the tray. The bottomedge of each partition 13 is preferably flanged as at 25.

The partitions or dividers 13 may be readily secured in the tray bypositioning the flange 20 at one end in an opening 15 while thepartition member 13 is held at an angle relative to the side Walls 11 asindicated in dotted line in Fig. 2, and thereafter swinging thepartition to bring the flange 19 at the other end into engagement withinthe opening 15 in the oppositely disposed slot formation 12. Theover-all length of each partition member 13 is slightly greater than thedistance between the inwardly projecting wall portions 18 adjacent theslot openings 15 so that when the partition 13 is swung into finalposition the last engaged flange is snapped over the side wall portion18 and the flanges 19 and 29 are brought into locked relation with theside walls 11. To remove the partition from engagement with the sidewalls 11 it is merely necessary to spring the one end slightly to causethe flange at that end to move past the projecting side wall portion 18and thereafter the flange at the other end may be freed from engagementwith the opposite side wall by pivoting the partition.

In the form of the tray which is illustrated in the drawings the slotopenings 15 in the opposite side walls 11 face toward opposite ends ofthe tray 10 and the end flanges 19 and 20 of the cross partition member23 extend in opposite directions so that the flanges 19 and 20 enter theslot openings 15 from opposite directions when the partition 23 isinstalled in the tray 10. However, the slot openings and the end flangesmay be constructed so that the openings face in the same direction andthe end flanges extend in the same direction which will permit the crosspartition to be installed in the tray by moving both end flanges in thesame direction toward the slot openings and thereby eliminate theswinging movement which is necessary in the illustrated form of theapparatus.

While specific materials and particular details of construction havebeen referred to in describing the illustrated form of the invention, itwill be understood that other materials and different details ofconstruction may be resorted to within the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A receptacle having side walls in oppositely disposed relation, saidside walls having cooperating relatively end portions of cross partitionmembers, the adjoining vertical side wall portions which define eachslot being in generally parallel planes which are .in spaced inwardlyoffset relation to the body of the side wall member whereby the slotsface in the direction of the end wall members with the respective slotsin each pair thereof facing in opposite directions said slotsterminating short of the upper edges of said side wall members andhaving their 'upper ends closed. a v

3. An open top receptacle having upstanding side wall i and crosspartition members removably mounted between said sidewalls, said sidewalls being of relatively thin plate-like material and having portionsthereof ofiset inwardly to form recesses extending inwardly of the outersurface, said ofiset portions having vertical slots arranged thereinwhich have their upper ends closed and which are in oppositely alignedrelation with the slots opening on the inside of the receptacle andfacing in opposite directions and said :cross partition members eachhaving flanges at opposite ends thereof which extend in oppositedirections and which are adapted to be positioned in interengagingswinging relation in said slots.

4. A receptacle having plate-like side walls in oppositely disposedrelation and said side walls having oppositely disposed inwardlyextending recess forming portions, relatively narrow elongate verticalslots in said recess forming portions which are arranged in alignmentand open in opposite directions, the side wall portions immediate- 1yadjacent the vertical. sides of each of said slots being in inwardlyoliset relation and in parallel planes and the upper ends of said slotsbeing closed, and cross partition members having projecting end flangesadapted to be positioned between said side walls and to pivot intointerlocking relation in said slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,230,830 Ickes June '19, 1917 1,823,285 Petritsch V Sept. 15,19311,867,455 Humphrey July 12, 1932 1,939,651 Bales Dec. '19, 19.332,705,588 Huckstep Apr. 5, 1955

